 (Above) CAST OF "SIR NOSE" When my son was about four years old, I got a job as a theater critic for a daily newspaper. For the next eight years, I saw about 100 shows a year--that's roughly two a week. I made it a point to take him to every show that was age appropriate, and when my daughter, who's three years younger got old enough, I took her too. So during their formative years, they saw far more plays than movies. I had taught college theater classes for years, and some of the school's former students started Colorado ACTS, a performance-oriented theater school. They asked me to write, teach and direct for the 8-12 year olds, and since my children fit in that age group, I readily agreed. During the next five or six years I wrote several plays which are now available through Pioneer, including "Poultry in Motion," (which my daughter helped write) "The Beggar and the Wolf," "Sir Nose the Burger Rat," "The Three Bully Goats Griff" and "Blather, Blarney and Balderdash." It was fun to be a resident playwright and develop those shows with students I had trained, including my children. Casting and working with my own children was lots of fun. There was never any concern about favoritism, and we have many very positive father-son and father-daughter memories of working and playing together. Eventually, my son went on to do plays at his high school, and my daughter decided to give up acting, but they both love going to the theater and seeing plays, especially musicals. We play Broadway showtunes at home, and have an extensive video collection of musical theater. This winter my son and I are going to write a play together, a slapstick spoof of the epic poem "Beowulf." That should be a lot of fun. From dad, to director, to colleagues in comedy. |
